CBC Charlottetown building on University Avenue

There has been a corporate-wide cost saving trend at the CBC towards leasing, rather owning the their buildings. The current CBC building is inaccessible on that lonely stretch of University Avenue,  isolated across four lanes of busy traffic from the fast food joints and auto repair shops that line the strip. It is not a pedestrian friendly destination. As gregarious and likeable as their on-air hosts are, their physical location makes it difficult to fully engage with the community.

Downtown Charlottetown offers several large vacant properties that would suit the CBC’s purposes very well and situate CBC reporters close to Province House, City Hall, provincial and federal government buildings, theaters, major events, music venues and people. Imagine Mitch and Matt doing Island Morning in a storefront location like K-ROCK and OCEAN (they’re lucky to catch a ray of daylight from their current studio bunker). Picture yourself watching Bruce broadcast Compass live from a street front studio and Boomer reporting weather from the sidewalk! Imagine being able to walk in off the street for an impromptu chat with Karen on Mainstreet.

I think CBC would be such an exciting tenant to have in our downtown and would contribute enormously to our cultural and social fabric in a way that is not possible where they currently are. Islanders are dedicated listeners and viewers; CBC PEI consistently has ratings well above the national average. A move downtown would bring the CBC closer to the public, revitalize both the organization and our city, and create a fresh new relationship with our public broadcaster.

Continue reading below for examples of what CBC is doing in other cities, and that illustrate what is possible here.

QUEBEC

CBC/Radio-Canada - store front location in Quebec City

2004: Quebec City — CBC/Radio-Canada has completed its move to the heart of the capital! Now housed at 888 Saint-Jean, CBC/Radio-Canada’s Quebec City media lines are better positioned than ever before to serve citizens in the greater Quebec City area and across Canada.

“This is an exciting day for CBC/Radio-Canada,” said Carole Taylor, O.C., Chair, CBC/Radio-Canada Board of Directors. “As this country’s national public broadcaster we provide Canadians with a space where they can connect with one another. Being in the heart of the city will enable us to strengthen even more our connection to the people of Quebec, just as a public broadcaster should.”

OTTAWA

CBC Ottawa on pedestrian-only Sparks Street in downtown Ottawa.

The CBC Ottawa Broadcast Centre on Sparks Street in downtown Ottawa. Built and owned by Morguard Investments, the space is leased by the CBC. The site had been vacant for several years and had previously been home to a Woolworths department store. Several of the studios and the newsroom are located at ground level on Sparks Street, allowing the public to observe from outside through 4 metre high (more than 12 feet) windows.

HALIFAX

CBC is consolidating radio and TV under one roof in downtown Halifax

CBC will sell its landmark building on Sackville Street in downtown Halifax and house all of its radio and television operations under one roof on Bell Road (NEARBY) … “I hope that Haligonians see this as CBC is renewing its commitment to Nova Scotia and remaining an important part of the downtown fabric,” More immediately, as soon as tomorrow the CBC will initiate the paperwork for the Bell Road construction. That plan calls for a 35,000 square foot addition in the parking lot, filling in the “L” shape, and then renovating the existing 52,000 square foot building. The new space will become “a big integrated newsroom,” says Cochran. “That’s for radio, television, online, news, current affairs, English, French, all together, with studios and edit suites and everything else adjacent. So, a large, modern, integrated newsroom.”

Other CBC locations in the heart of their respective downtowns:

VANCOUVER

After almost three years of construction and renos, the makeover of the 246,000-square-foot CBC/Radio Canada Broadcast Centre in downtown Vancouver was completed in 2009.
TORONTO

Canadian Broadcasting Centre (Toronto)

There’s always something happening at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre, and you can be a part of it! Meet your favourite hosts, preview our newest programs before they go to air, attend live tapings of shows like George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight, Steven & Chris and the Rick Mercer Report, watch and listen to stunning performances at Glenn Gould Studio and join us for special events throughout the year.

This was a complicated file. Because it was an as-of-right application, meeting all requirements of the bylaw, National Building Code and the National Fire Protection Association codes NFPA 1 [Fire Code] and NFPA 30 [Flammable and Combustible Liquids Code] , the permit was issued by staff and council was not even aware of the development until it was underway. This is normal; Council is not involved in applications where all requirements are met. Staff were diligent in their examination of the safety issues involved and determined the risks were acceptable.

Would this apartment building be my first choice of residence, wedged as it is between the Trans-Canada and a chemical plant? Probably not. The property is zoned Highway Commercial (C2) but the developer chose, as was his right, to build a residential building.

IRAC ruled in favour of the city while seeming to go out of its way to appear even-handed, but in the process offered up contradictions and what amounts to editorial opinion on matters that were not within its mandate to review.

Mr. Dark presented the plan to City Council a few weeks ago. It is a bold plan – some would say radical – to transform the area into an inviting destination in our city. Mr. Dark is a very experienced planning consultant. His presentation of the plan and explanation of the planning principles involved is worth hearing in person. I encourage you to attend.

Date: Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Time: In the afternoon at 2:00pm and in the evening at 7:00pm.
Place: Georgian Room at the Charlottetown Hotel

Keep in mind, it is a concept of what could be achieved over the long term. It would literally take decades and many millions of dollars to fully implement, but if adopted by council it will be a guiding plan for all future planning decisions in the area.

Victoria Park is a huge asset to our city, but it has a lot of unrealized potential. Great city’s have great parks and I can easily imagine Victoria Park in the same league as some of the more famous municipal parks. It’s just not quite there yet.

The park is almost 40 acres, but we all know there is a lot of pressure on the park with more and more amenities being added over the decades, one at a time, without much regard for the overall concept. The city wouldn’t approve a subdivision of that size without a detailed plan to guide the use of the land.

What’s needed is a vision; a comprehensive master plan developed with public consultation, to guide the long-term development and management of the park. The plan should include recommendations for phased, short-term design changes that will help accommodate all the diverse — and sometimes incompatible — uses of the park to ultimately make it more enjoyable for everyone.

I’ve watched over the years as other municipalities have undergone similar exercises for their greenspace and parks. I often use the Point Pleasant Park Comprehensive Plan as an example, but there are many others, several in the Atlantic region alone.

The Mi’kmaq Confederacy of Prince Edward Island hired a consultant, o2 Design + Planning, to create a vision for the Experimental Farm. The plan was design-oriented and really quite impressive. The City would certainly need to consult professional landscape architects too,  but public consultation is paramount. I have many ideas myself. I would ask some of the following:

1. Is it really necessary to allow cars to drive into the center of the park? I say no. The old driveway, which extends from the cannons to the tennis courts should be narrowed and reserved for pedestrian and cyclists only. A small stretch of the driveway was converted to a nice pathway, but users are forced into traffic at one end, and a parking lot at the other. Parking for the tennis courts could be accommodated near the dairy bar. The parking off Brighton Road should also be moved. Separate cars and people.
2. Do we need to close a lane of the park roadway for cyclists? It’s wonderful, but there is room for a dedicated year-round bike lane. My detailed plan upon request.
3. Must there be a half kilometer of chain link fence along the west perimeter of the park? I say no. Gary Schneider’s excellent forest management plan (which is being ably implemented in many ways) suggested a hedge instead, if a barrier is necessary at all.
4. Was the restoration of Fort Edward Battery a good thing? I think not. The old battery design — run down as it had become — was one of the most popular destinations in the park; a vantage point where you could stroll atop the berm and enjoy the incredible view. Now it is fenced off, unwelcoming, and simply obstructs the view. Make this a focal point again.

I could go on… and on. But finally, I will just say this; I think the park deserves a significant monument to the park’s namesake, Queen Victoria, such as a statue with surrounding public space.  In 2014 we’ll be celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Charlottetown Conference in the Birthplace of Confederation so, notwithstanding all the attention the Founding Fathers will get, it would be a perfect opportunity to honour the Queen who is known as the Mother of Confederation.

1. Amendments to the process of issuing demolition permits;
2. new sustainable green development standards;
3. new section on ground source heat exchange systems (geothermal heating/cooling);
4. new section dealing with development in areas threatened by sea level rise;
5. new section regulating the operation of  Adult Care Homes;
6. new section for Urban Forest Retention and Replacement Strategy;
7. new section for Public Participation Strategy for Major Development Projects.

Planning staff did a great job researching these items. There was some interesting discussion, debate and suggestions from resident members of planning board. As I said, these are proposed changes. They will still need to be approved by council. Get in touch, or leave a comment, if you’d like to discuss.

The City spent a considerable amount of money upgrading the Peter Pan intersection a few years ago but it is still essentially a 3-way intersection, with Spencer Drive being under-used, mainly as a secondary entrance to to the mall or the Superstore. And again, you still need to weave your way through the busy mall/cinema parking lot to get to Mt. Edward from Spencer.

With the anticipation of development on the adjacent land north of Spencer  Drive, I believe it is time for the City to start making plans to extend this road to the east, directly out to Mt. Edward Rd. It would vastly improve the flow of crosstown traffic, service future development, and improve the safety in the parking lots that are currently misused as a means of getting from one side of town to the other. I think it’s good long term infrastructure planning and also solves a number of immediate issues.

I’ve discussed this with residents from every corner of the city, with several other councillors, and city planning staff. I was surprised by the level of agreement on the issue.  A number of people have also written letters to the editor recently about this issue. See here, here, and here (there was another by Bruce Garrity, but I can’t seem to find it).

I was happy to see so many City staff people there, but also representatives of the business community, developers, and regular citizens. I think we all gained a better understanding and respect for the importance of good urban planning; how it affects our quality of life and drives economic development.

I recorded the lecture using my phone, and although the audio quality is perfectly acceptable and Mr. Beasley’s words speak powerfully enough themselves, the real advantage of actually being there was his photo essay that seemed to sync perfectly and effortlessly with his speech. Visuals of spectacular urban vistas, public spaces and residential developments — mostly from Vancouver but mixed with his own excellent perspectives on Charlottetown — flashed across the screen and seemed to be impossibly timed to emphasize his points.

You can download my recording here (mp3, 40 mb), or read Mr. Beasley’s lecture here (pdf).

Here are just a few memorable and relevant quotes, among many:

“Every city has to have a design. A city without a design does not know where it is going, does not know how to grow.”

“You cannot leave the design of these building to chance, or you can get some pretty unpleasant results. So we carefully regulate the designs…”

“Schools are actually being closed… these kind of counter-intuitive decisions are happening, that do not help you achieve a re-populated city”

“There are simply not enough young singles, or older empty nesters to create a vibrant city … and families are flooding back downtown [Vancouver] in record numbers … And there is a spinoff benefit that we discovered: If you design a city that works well for children, it seems to work well for everyone else.”

Here are alternate views from the Seaport wharf, and from the water. And here the site plan.

‘This investment by Homburg has reignited the issue.’— Coun. Jeff Lantz

Having a brother who was formerly in politics, I get called ‘Jeff’ quite often. But this is the first news story to mix us up.

There is one other correction to this story. Paying cash in-lieu of physical parking spaces is not an exception to the bylaw as reported. It is an option built right into the Zoning & Development bylaw.

4.47 CASH-IN-LIEU OF PARKING SPACES

.1 Council May require or accept Cash-in-lieu of Parking Spaces in any situation where a
Development Permit has been applied for and adequate or required off-street Parking cannot be
provided or, in the opinion of Council, having considered a recommendation from the Planning
Board, is unfeasible.

We will certainly be careful to scrutinize any future requests so we have some confidence that a drive-thru can accommodate the expected volume of traffic, but I would also remind the public not to line up in a public right-of-way. I will ask the Chief of Police to enforce this if necessary.

This isn’t a new problem, and to my knowledge there’s never been a serious incident as a result. However, I do recognize the concerns, and I want to deal with them. There is no question the line ups are creating a traffic impediment, but we can’t collectively punish every business that has, or wants, a drive-thru because of the popularity of a handful of Tim Horton’s.

I will be meeting with the Police & Bylaw Enforcement Committee later this month for the first time since becoming chair. We will decide on a course of action then. I still think a cooperative approach will result in the best overall solution.

This area of the Charlottetown waterfront is a Comprehensive Development Area, or a special planning area, and because this new proposal is significantly different from the spa/hotel/condo plan that was originally approved for that site more than two years ago, the approval process must start again from the beginning.
Tomorrow night at council’s monthly public meeting we will vote to “…proceed to the public consultation phase to consider an amendment to the Waterfront Development Concept Plan…”.

Assuming this resolution passes, a public meeting on the new condo proposal will be scheduled sometime before Christmas, I would think. The developer has indicated he would like to get started on some of the early prep work this winter.

UPDATE: The public meeting is scheduled for November 26th, 7:00pm, at the Rodd Charlottetown Hotel (Georgian Room).

I agree that residents should have been made aware of the appeal, but unfortunately most of council — including the councillor who represents the area — was not even aware of the appeal until the decision was reported in the media. Consequently, we could not notify residents of something we ourselves did not know. This also caused us to miss the window to appeal the decision, but we are pursuing other avenues because council feels it is not entirely appropriate for an appointed commission to be ordering elected officials to make planning decisions, particularly when the order clearly states “that the City did follow all the procedures required in its Bylaw.“

I won’t quibble with the decision, but it does remind Council that even as elected officials we don’t necessarily have the last word on planning decisions.  IRAC did, however, make the order to rezone “subject to a development agreement” between the City and the developer which leaves some room for Council to deal with the concerns of residents in the area before a building permit is issued.

“I tried to go commercial with this site but once I heard the opposition from the Community I knew it was time to withdraw our application and that is exactly what we did. Steve may have to do the same if he wants customers?”